Prosecutor: Marine City shooting was justified

St. Clair County Prosecutor Mike Wendling has ruled a Marine City police officer was justified in the fatal shooting of a 36-year-old Richmond woman.

In a letter to St. Clair County Sheriff Detective Steve Surman, who handled the shooting investigation, Wendling outlines the events of the evening of Aug. 4 resulting in Melissa Wiseman's death:

Daniel Wiseman reported to Richmond police his wife and his pistol were missing about 9:40 p.m. Citing three recent incidents in which police were contacted, it was again believed he was concerned about her well-being.

About 10 p.m. Border Patrol Agent Don Kress noticed a woman covered with a blanket in a vehicle in the Department of Natural Resources turnout area at the boat launch in Marine City. He knocked a few times, but she didn't move. He contacted Marine City Police.

Another Border Patrol agent, Ryan Champion, and a city officer, Ryan Young, arrived. They attempted to make contact and spotted an empty holster on a seat.

As Marine City Police Chief James Heaslip and Officer Michael Dekun arrive at the scene, a gunshot is fired through the roof of the vehicle from inside the vehicle.

Heaslip breaks out the rear passenger window and Dekun breaks out the front driver window.

Heaslip finds Melissa Wiseman with a gun to her head.

Negotiations go on for about 20 minutes, with Melissa Wiseman alternating between pointing the gun at officers and herself. She tells Dekun at one point, "Shoot me."

"Statements such as 'don't do it,' 'what's going on tonight - talk to us,' 'you don't want to do this,' 'please don't do it,' 'put the gun down,' 'we don't want to do it nor do you.' Variations of these types of statements are made by Officer Dekun, who is essentially pleading with Ms. Wiseman to give up the firearm," Wendling's letter states.

At 10:20 p.m. Melissa Wiseman exits the vehicle pointing the gun at Dekun.

Two shots are fired, one hitting Melissa Wiseman.

"Based on the information provided, it is my opinion that Officer Dekun was justified in his decision to use deadly forces resulting in the death of Ms. Wiseman. The law requires that at the time an officer uses deadly force, he must have an honest and reasonable belief that he or another person is in danger of being killed or seriously injured. The evidence submitted supports that Ms. Wiseman had repeatedly pointed her firearm at multiple officers, and was given repeated requests to drop her weapon," Wendling wrote.

Heaslip said it was an unfortunate situation.

"He had to do what he had to do, the situation was doing bad quickly," he said of Dekun.

Dekun was also cleared in a shooting in Marine City in March 2012.

Dekun had responded to a report of a suicidal suspect when Edward Malinowski pointed a gun at the officer. Malinowski survived and was later charged with raping his stepdaughter.

Heaslip said Dekun was a part-time officer in 2012 and left shortly after for a position with another department. He returned to Marine City full time in January.

Dan Wiseman declined to comment Monday.

Contact Liz Shepard at (810) 989-6273 or lshepard@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @lvshepard.